Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Pat Callaghan and Councillor Anna Burrage and Francis Dias. 

Broadcast of the meeting

The Chair to announce the following: ‘In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record this meeting, I would like to remind everyone that this meeting is being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available upon request.

If you have asked to address the meeting, you are deemed to be consenting to having your contributions recorded and broadcast, including video when switched on, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.’

Any other announcements

Webcasting

The Chair announced that the meeting was being broadcast live to the internet and would be capable of repeated viewing and copies of the recording could be made available to those that requested them. Those participating in the meeting were deemed to be consenting to being filmed.

There were none.

There were none.

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 18^th July 2024.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 18^th July 2024.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 18^th July 2024 be approved as a correct record

Report of the Director of Property Management

This report provides an update on compliance across fire, legionella, asbestos, gas, electrics and lifts (FLAGEL) for the housing portfolio for Q1 2024/25. It also provides:

-        an update on the latest progress made to complete fire safety actions, and an update on delivery against the Voluntary Undertaking agreed with the Regulator in November 2023.

-        Q1 performance on safety related Tenant Satisfaction Measures for 23/24

An update on Building Safety Case File submissions

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Property Management.

Sinead Burke, Head of Property Asset Management, took the meeting through the report and she along with Gavin Haynes, Director of Property Management, Michal Jankowski, Head of Resident and Building Safety, Melissa Dillon, Resident Safety Engagement & Governance Lead, and Maria Jacobs, Head of Landlord Services, gave the following key responses to questions:

·       The Council was delivering its action plan that covered all the outstanding Fire Risk Actions (FRAs), and these would be completed by the end of 2025. The Council now had no high-risk actions remaining.

·       The Council’s Insurer carried out statutory inspections of its lifts, this involved each lift being inspected every 6 months and annually to make sure they were compliant, and ensured that insurance was in place. Issues around no access by inspectors to lifts related to health and safety hazards that had to be rectified before the operative would undertake the inspection. Also, where an estate had two lifts in place, and one of them was out of service, the inspector would not undertake the inspection as they did not want tenants and residents to be without a lift. An internal Council working group had been set up to ensure that any no access issues to lifts were rectified as quickly as possible.

·       An action plan has been put in place to seek to deal with lift issues, as part of this process officers had identified the different types of repairs that needed to be undertaken, along with a process that ensured that high profile or high urgency repairs were escalated and undertaken quickly.

·       Officers sought to work with its external lift inspectors to ensure they were able to undertake inspections quickly once the Council had completed any necessary health and safety works.

·       Landlords were required to ensure that electrics in their building were safe but they did not have to undertake an Electrical Inspection Condition Report (EICR). Having this as a formal requirement was something that there had been Government consultation on. Officers had been working with colleagues in legal regarding producing letters that could be sent to leaseholders regarding allowing access to homes to allow for EICRs. Officers were looking at the outcome arising from a recent court ruling regarding access to see if it could be applied generally, or was just case specific. Should this ruling apply more widely, then it would give the Council greater powers regarding access.

Officers would provide an update regarding the position on the ruling, when it was available.

ACTION BY: Director of Property Management (MD)

·       Officers would also look into the performance of its lift contractor regarding the health and safety hazard access issues to see if the service needed to be improved.

ACTION BY: Director of Property Management (SB)

·       The external inspection programme was one part of the inspection process that was done on lifts, if the external inspection raised defects then these would be picked up by the Council’s lift service manager.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Report of the Director of Property Management

In 2023/24 the Council commissioned an independent audit of the Camden’s arrangements for fire risk management against the BSI Fire Risk Management System BS9997 criteria as part of the oversight and delivery of the Resident Safety Programme. This report sets out the findings of the Audit and actions the Council will be taking in response.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Property Management.

Michal Jankowski, Head of Resident and Building Safety, took the meeting through the report and he along with Gavin Haynes, Director of Property Management, and Steve Boulton, Fire Safety Advisor Manager, gave the following key responses to questions:

·       The Council was undertaking a pilot that sought to identify and improve engagement with vulnerable residents. The pilot would be covering tenants and residents in 6 Council buildings, and would allow tenants and residents to self-identify themselves with regards to any vulnerability that they may have that could potentially prevent them from effectively being evacuated in the case of an emergency. As part of the pilot the Council would also be pro-actively reaching out to tenants and residents to obtain information, and would be using other localised information and not just relying on the tenants and residents themselves responding. Once this information had been obtained and analysed, further contact would be undertaken seeking clarification from the tenant and resident if necessary. The information would then be used to compile a person-centred risk assessment that would contain information about a person’s living arrangements (e.g. smoker, user of oils, overloading sockets) and whether they had a disability. This would allow for an anonymised risk assessment (high, medium or low) to be available regarding the premises and the people who lived there to be shared with the London Fire Brigade (LFB). This information would be updated at least every 12 months and GDPR requirements would be followed regarding the storing and sharing of the information even within the Council. An example of a high risk person would be someone who was bed bound, lived alone, and would need full rescue in an evacuation by the LFB, so they could attend fully prepared. The pilot would be expanded in due course across the whole of the borough.

·       The outcomes from the BS9997 risk management audit were driving the Council’s programme on this, but learning from best practice elsewhere would always be taken on board and help shape the finalised scheme.

·       The Council shared its best practices with housing associations in Camden on a regular basis, but they were responsible for fire safety issues within their homes.

·       The Council has an officer working group looking at fire safety issues regarding commercial properties on its housing estates or where under Council homes. High-risk premises had already been identified through this work. This work was a requirement for the authority under the provisions of the Building Safety Act.

·       The Council had undertaken some type 4 surveys to start the process of understanding the scale of the issue regarding firebreaks between commercial properties and tenants homes, so they could be improved if necessary. Officers would provide an update on the progress of this work in the future.  

ACTION BY: Director of Property Management (SB)

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted

Report of the Director of Property Management

This report is about the Council’s Fire & Building Safety Charter commitments to working with residents to keep them safe in their Council homes, and the progress that has been made in the 23/24 financial year. The report explains how we have been doing and where we need help from residents to make improvements

Sinead Burke, Head of Property Asset Management, took the meeting through the report and she along with Gavin Haynes, Director of Property Management, Susanne Afra, Head of Capital Works, and Melissa Dillon, Resident Safety Engagement & Governance Lead, gave the following key responses to questions:

·       The Council’s Capital Programme covered the proposed work plan to deliver the outstanding fire risk actions by the December 2025 deadline. The Regulator was aware of the Council’s plan and understood the issues that may face the authority regarding delivery (e.g. access or regulatory issues).

·       One of the recommendations that was arising from the Grenfell Inquiry recommendations was the need for a national building control service and this was now with the Government to consider.

·       Information had been shared with tenants and residents in the Council’s Housing News publication and other correspondence, reminding them that if they wished to undertake works to their properties then they needed to check in with appropriate Council officer (e.g. Neighbourhood Housing officer or Officer in Capital Works Team) and they would provide them with appropriate advice. This advice would cover the issue of internal asbestos that they may have in their home when it was known to the Council.

·       The Council had its own Asbestos Team that worked closely with the delivery teams to make sure tenants and residents were kept safe. The Council had an internal register of asbestos information in Council homes that was reviewed annually. The Council used the information obtained from its void and pre-works property surveys to help build a picture regarding whether asbestos could be in other similar buildings. 

·       Officers would consider whether there should be a 6^th Charter Commitment regarding accountability, along with making the process of reporting a fire safety concern easier and not through the Council’s Complaints portal.

ACTION BY: Director of Property Management (MD) 

RESOLVED -

THAT the report be noted

Report of the Director of Property Management

The report suggests a possible work programme for future meetings of the panel.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Property Management.

The meeting asked that the following reports be added to the work programme:

·       Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report – Government response (to be added to the yet to be programmed list)

·       Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report and recommendations – Update on Camden’s response (January 2025)

·       Building Safety Case information (January 2025)

New items in bold

29th January 2025

·       Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report and recommendations – Update on Camden’s response (January 2025)

·       Building Safety Case information (January 2025)

·       Leasehold Property Access Options

·       Annual report on work of the Panel

·       Compliance performance report (Standing item)

·       Work Programme

23rd April 2025

·       LFB Annual Report

·       Compliance performance report (Standing item)

·       Work Programme

Summer 2025

Resident/TRA training

Compliance performance report (Standing item)

Autumn 2025

Annual Fire & Building Safety Charter report 2024/25

Compliance performance report (Standing item)

Yet to be Programmed

·       Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report – Government response

RESOLVED –

THAT the work programme as revised above, and action tracker update be endorsed and noted.

There were none.